Beast is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film[3] written and directed by Nelson and produced by Sun Pictures. The film stars Vijay and Pooja Hegde, leading an ensemble cast including Selvaraghavan, Shine Tom Chacko, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley, VTV Ganesh, Shaji Chen, Aparna Das, Sathish Krishnan, Lilliput and Ankur Ajit Vikal. It revolves around an ex-RAW agent’s crusade to rescue people held hostage in a shopping mall by terrorists.
The production rights of Vijay’s 65th film as lead actor, which was tentatively titled Thalapathy 65, were acquired by Sun Pictures in early January 2020, and the film was set to be written and directed by AR Murugadoss. However, the producers ousted Murugadoss from the film in October 2020, after he refused to cut his renumeration. Nelson was later hired, and wrote a new script for the film.
With an official announcement during December 2020, the film began principal photography in April 2021, and wrapped that December. It was shot across various locations in Chennai, including a specially designed set resembling that of a shopping mall where most of the film was shot, whilst sporadic schedules took place in Delhi and Georgia. The music was composed by Anirudh, cinematography was handled by Manoj Paramahamsa, editing by R. Nirmal and production design supervised by D. R. K. Kiran, respectively.
Beast was released in theatres on 13 April 2022. The film received mixed reviews from critics with praise towards the cast performances, action sequences, cinematography, production design, music, background score and Nelson’s direction while the pacing, predictability and uneven screenplay received criticism.